GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



GENERAL COMMESPONDENCE 



SOME INTERESTING WINTERING EXPERIMENTS BY AN EXTENSIVE 



BEEKEEPER IN IDAHO 



A Comparison of Four Different Methods 



BY JOSEPH J. ANDERSON 



In the North the wintering problem will 

 always be a regular part of the beekeeper's 

 work if success is to attend his efforts, just 

 as the wintering of sheep or cattle presents 

 its peculiar problems and brings its exacting 

 labor to the shepherd or cattle-breeder. 

 There is this material difference, hoAvever. 

 When our bees are 



put away for winter i""""" """"" "" ' ' 



the work is over — no 

 wading through the 

 snow nor exposure to 

 the cold blustering 

 storms, carrying 

 grain or forage or 

 providing them with 

 water. 



Not enough atten- 

 tion is paid, at least 

 by the beekeepers of 

 this Rocky Mountain 

 section, to this im- 

 portant problem, al- 

 though its signifi- 

 cance is coming to be 

 recognized more and 

 more. With young 

 and vigorous queens, 

 a hive full of young 

 bees, and ample 

 stores, the battle is 

 half won. 



With a view to 

 determining the best 

 method, if such there 

 be, of winter protec- 

 tion, I tried last win- 

 ter four different | , , „:,„„ „„ 



methods. At my home 



yard I put into my cellar, a log structure 

 set into the edge of a hill, and facing the 

 north, 158 colonies. See Fig. 1. These, 

 on account of the mild weather and the 

 ditliculty of keeping down the temperature 

 in the repository, I was compelled to take 

 out March 17. It was too early, but the 

 insistent restlessness of the bees compelled 

 it.. 



Half of these wei'e tiered with bottoms 

 removed, the covers left on. They were set 

 about four inches apart. The lower tier 



Christmas Fancies 



GRACE ALLEX 



Bees of mine, no longer humming, 

 Christmas Day is coming, coming, 

 With its thoughts forever bringing 

 Dreams of far away, 

 Of that dim and distant morn 

 When sweet Mary's Babe was born. 

 How the bells go ringing, ringing, 

 Christmas Day! 



As he grew a little lad, 

 Were the bees, I wonder, glad 

 In sweet Mary's flowers to meet 

 When day began? 

 Then from vineyards warm and sunny 

 Did they garner choicest honey, 

 Rich and rare and heavenly sweet. 

 For Mary's son? 



May be sometimes in the grass 

 He would smile to hear them pass, 

 Buzzing so through all their jolly. 

 Genial lives! 

 For these fancies, vague and fleeting. 

 Bees of mine, I give you greeting. 

 And I lay a sprig of holly 

 On your hives. 



with the middle of the hive over the four- 

 inch space between the two hives below it, 

 break-joint fashion. Tlie other half I tier- 

 ed up close together with covers removed 

 and burlap over the frames. 



The unrest of the latter colonies as com- 

 pared with those that had the bottoms re- 

 moved was very 



""""" """""" "" I marked — so much so 



that I found it nec- 

 essary to remove the 

 bottom-boards from 

 some twenty or more 

 of them and tier as 

 the others, when the 

 bees at once became 

 quiet. Hereafter in 

 my cellaring, all bot- 

 tom-boards shall be 

 removed. 



When these bees 

 were taken out of the 

 cellar, March 10, on- 

 ly four colonies were 

 dead, of wluch two 

 I knew to be queen- 

 less when put in. By 

 May 6, however, 13 

 more had succumbed, 

 making a total loss 

 of 17, about 10.8 per 

 cent, if the queenless 

 ones be counted. The 

 general condition of 

 these bees as regards 

 strength and vitality 

 I was first-class. 



„„„„ ,„„, ,= At my north yard, 



the principal out- 

 yard, 333 colonies were packed as follows. 

 See Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. 



Eighty-seven were "heeled in," or banked 

 up as shown in Fig. G. I first prepared 87 

 bee-escape boards by sawing out a l^/^-inch 

 piece from the rim near one corner, and 

 tacking a thin strip underneath to prevent 

 breaking. This made the entrance at the 

 top, for the bottom was closed by dirt. 

 Then these 87 colonies wei'e set in a row 

 facing the south, and as near together as 

 possible. Next an escape-board, with es- 



was set on two poles, and the upper tiers, capes removed, was placed over each hive, 



